The Multiple Effects Of Rainshadow

My first Thea Astley Outstanding I couldn t put it down Harrowing, insightful, multiple points of view so technically accomplished, historically based and relevant today, if you recall Palm Island What an appalling piece of Australian current history Descriptions in boarding school in Queensland s outback and life in Brisbane in that era brilliantly depicted Can t wait to read the next one.

I read this book initially as I signed up for the a href australianwomenwriters Australian Women Writers Book Challenge you should too it was close at hand and not too long and I ve had it for some time and while I have loved the cover, I ve never looked inside It was a great choice as the novel is very engaging and thought provoking really one of those books that gets under your skin, and makes you think about it for days afterwards The rhythm of the text is just lovely the language rich and ro [...]

This is perfect Astley with her keen eye, her attention to Australian language and characters that are real and idiosyncratic.The heat and humidity never leaves the pages nor the characters, causing them to do things that a sane person would avoid The main event is based on an actual tragedy on Palm Island north of Townsville in February 1930 Astley spins a beautiful story of the fall out of this event it is brutal and honest and believable And that is why I love Astley she can create honest, cl [...]

Thea Astley writes about an event that happened in the 1930s but this historical fiction has turned out to be tragically prescient.The bookends that frame the book the rampage and the strike are both factual events, but she has fictionalized the characters Even Brodie Curry a factual character has been filled out from the imagination, as he did not survive to give any account of his motivation It begins with the cyclone that annihilated the Aboriginal settlement Mission Beach and led to the esta [...]

An odd book that spans 20 or so years, starting with a crazed killing spree on an island for isolating indigenous blacks, then follows the principals on the island and their children interacting afterwards The first half is full of precise observations and metaphors as the original characters struggle with their lives and roles on the island, but yields not as successfully to straighforward and polemical writing in the end affirming resistance to the subjugation of women and blacks The main the [...]

This was difficult to get into since none of the characters were particularly appealing However, I persevered mainly because I had little else to read on a long car trip I found it a finely woven, multi faceted tale that was very satisfying

Struggled with this, in the end decided there are too many other books out there awaiting my attention Interesting story line but the style made it difficult for me to follow.

A little difficult to get into at the beginning Weaves quite an intricate web of peoples lives by the end.

Strangely prophetic of The Tall Man by Claire Hooper Tragic, a bit fragmented as some stories interweave without consequence but still with something to say about Australia s double standards.